Trick or Treat
by Diana the Actress
Summary: Sequel to "To Be Continued." Kelly Munroe-Hapschatt dares her best friend Kyara Majors to trick or treat at the haunted mansion. A blast from the past comes their way and drags both into something they weren't expecting.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello there, -ers! I said I might write a sequel with our good friend Kyara, and I did! And a new friend might be joining her!**_

_** For those of you who didn't read "To Be Continued," I would suggest you read that first. This is a sequel to that.**_

_** I do not own RHPS, not a bit. But I do own Kyara Majors and Kelly Munroe-Hapschatt.**_

__The screen door slammed behind us as we walked into the brisk October night. Kids scurried around from door to door hoping to get their favorite sweet treats masquerading as princesses, superheroes, and other things they aren't while parents follow and let them take and inevitably eat candy from strangers. Yes, I'm talking that night on October 31st where the ghosts and ghouls come back from the dead and you can take people's candy without getting arrested.

Halloween. The time when little boys can dress like little girls and little girls can dress like sluts. Tonight, my friend Kelly Munroe-Hapschatt and I were going trick-or-treating with my older brother, Dustin. Well, Dustin had to watch us but we were still going trick-or-treating.

Why? Because we want free candy, that's why.

"Okay, guys, I got a Halloween party at my girlfriend's place tonight. I'm not missing it." Dustin explained in his store-bought ninja costume. "Don't tell Mom, Dad, Ralph or Betty that I ditched you guys or I'll make your lives a living hell for the rest of your natural existence. Got it?"

"Sure, whatever, Majors." Kelly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You're not getting any of our candy though."

"I'm sure he'll be getting plenty of candy tonight at his girlfriend's place," I laughed, smirking.

"Oh shut up, dumbbell. Now I'll see you around. Bye!" With that, Dustin ran off leaving us in the middle of the street.

"Oh dear, whatever shall we do now, unsupervised?" Kelly sighed, overdramatically and sarcastically. It's good she was being sarcastic; it was hard to take her seriously in that costume she was wearing.

Kelly decided she would go as one of those slutty French maids. She got her costume at Hot Topic so it was a little low up top and a little high down below with one of those little white headpieces pinned in her hair. She also added fishnets and suspenders to the ensemble and black go-go boots. Kelly looked like a slut, and considering that was the look she was going for, she did a pretty good job. I was shocked it got by her parents, they were like the K-9 unit for inappropriate behavior.

Unfortunately, though, Kelly had somehow talked me into doing the same. I don't know why I went along with it. Dumb peer pressure.

I went as a nurse. I had a short, tight blue dress with both sleeves off the shoulder. I wore white, almost sheer stockings, a white nurse hat with a blue cross on it, and blue heels. I recently found out I was very skilled at walking in heels this past August. All in all, I felt extremely self-conscious about what I was wearing, and the fact that the October Denton air was unnaturally cold didn't help.

Suddenly Kelly looked at me, a grin playing across her lips. "You know what we should do? We should trick or treat at that haunted house down Carson Avenue."

"There's a haunted house on Carson Ave?"

"Well maybe it's not on Carson, but I know where it is."

That's strange, I thought, as Kelly led me down the road. I didn't know out town even _had_ a haunted house. It all seemed pretty clichéd, but I didn't mind. I thought it was pretty cool.

We trick or treated down the road, but still heading for our main destination. Finally, the houses stopped. It just became a bare road with a bunch of trees lining it, so thick I couldn't see through it. Something compelled me to take out my phone, with its cracked screen it received from me falling on it. No service. I got an odd sense of déjà vu as I continued down the road with Kelly.

Gradually, a light came into view. It got bigger as we approached, and soon I found myself at the front of a gate. Suddenly I felt sick as Kelly pressed her face to the gate

"This is it," She stepped back and grinned. "This is the house. I dare you to go knock on the door."

"Kelly, I don't like this idea, can we just go get some candy and go home?" I sputtered, backing away. The castle was huge. The castle had a light on. And worst of all, the castle was familiar.

"Aw, you're just a chicken. Need me to go with you?"

"No, Kelly, I don't want to, let's just go home and watch scary movies!"

"No, Kyara, you big chicken, I'll do it myself!" She laughed, pulling open the rusty gates and clopping down the path in her heels. I scurried after, nervous of the coming events.

"So you decided to come?" Kelly smiled. "I'm glad, now we can see if a witch lives here!"

"Look, Kelly, I don't think anyone lives here, can we leave now?"

"No, the lights are on." Kelly and I climbed up the two steps and knocked on the door.

"Well, no one's home looks like we have to go!" I said quickly, starting away. Kelly caught me by the collar of my small, plastic-y dress.

"Wait, you didn't give it enough of a chance!" Her voice was shaky too, I had a feeling she was scared. But I knew she wasn't scared in the same way I was.

We stood there for what seemed like forever until the door opened. At the door were two people I hadn't expected to see tonight.

One was rather tall. He was balding on the top of his head but his long, tangled, blonde hair was grown out past his shoulders. He wore a black suit jacket and the same colored pants with a half open white shirt. Next to him, the one holding the door open was a shorter woman with frizzy auburn hair. She wore a maid style dress with black heels that put Kelly's outfit to shame. I knew them.

"What do you want?" the woman drawled in her thick foreign accent.

"Uh… Trick or treat?" I heard Kelly squeak.

The man raised his eyebrows. "Magenta, darling, does the young woman in the nurse outfit look familiar to you?" He had a weird British accent, sort of a monotone.

The woman's eyes turned from Kelly to me and her eyebrows rose in recognition. Before she could say anything to answer the man, I spoke up.

"Hi, Magenta," I started with a scratchy throat. "Did you miss me?"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: I really hope you're all enjoying it. It only gets more insane from here on out. Please leave your reviews and comments, they're loved endlessly.**_

"Did you miss me?"

"Kyara!" Kelly turned to me with a shocked expression on her face. "You know these people?"

"Are you going to take some candy or not?" Riffraff shook the black, porcelain bowl he held with assorted sweets. Magenta elbowed him in the ribs.

"It's nice to see you." Magenta smiled, something that I rarely ever saw. "I knew you'd be back."

"Wait! You mean that outrageous story you told me back in August was _true_?" Kelly gasped from beside me. "I thought you _lied_."

"That doesn't surprise me." I sighed.

"But why didn't you push the issue?"

"You never listen!"

"Kyara!"

"I hate to interrupt this fight between the lovely newlyweds," Magenta started. "But why on earth do you both look like hookers?"

"I wouldn't be talking, lady, I look just like you." Kelly piped.

"You really want to go there?" Magenta started at her but Riffraff held her back.

"Kyara, I apologize, but now is not the best time. Please come back at a later date if you are planning a visit." Riffraff drawled, beginning to shut the door. Magenta caught it.

"Maybe she could help us. Remember how much he liked her?"

"Well I'd rather not drag her in here again, with the master not home. And what the hell would happen if Columbia found out? She'd never let her leave again."

"Maybe that's not such a bad thing, with Columbia being so depressed lately."

Suddenly I heard a squeaky, high-pitched voice from down the hall with the clicking of tap shoes.

"_Magentaaaaaaaaaa?_ Where's the ice cream? I'm hungryyyyyyy." A young woman in blue striped pajamas and a Mickey Mouse ears hat appeared next to Magenta. Suddenly she looked at me. Her look of hunger turned to a look of shock then to a look of sheer happiness.

She screamed.

"KYARA!" She flung herself at me and picked me up, spinning me around. Not letting go, she continued to babble about how much she missed me and what's happened while I was gone.

"Wait!" Kelly shouted, cutting off Columbia. "Is this the annoying girl you told me about?"

Columbia looked at me, a bit hurt. "You said I was annoying?"

"Well, uh…" I sputtered, trying to think of an excuse.

"Well it's true anyway I MISSED YOU!" she squealed, pulling me back into another hug and swishing me around. I couldn't breathe, but it was worth it. It was nice to see Columbia again, she was fun to be with. Finally, she let off with a sigh from both of us, signaling the return of breath to me.

"Who's your friend? Why are you dressed like a nurse?" Her voice suddenly hushed to a whisper. "Why's your friend dressed like Magenta?"

Kelly cleared her throat. "Care to introduce me?"

"Oh yeah, Kelly, this is Magenta, Riffraff, and Columbia."

"What kind of names are those?"

"_Our_ names, bitch." Magenta huffed, crossing her arms.

"Well are you going to come inside or just stand out here letting the cold in?" squealed Columbia, ignoring how steamed her friend was getting.

"Can we come in?" I inquired, glad to change the subject.

"Sure," Magenta stepped aside, creating a path to the unchanged entrance hall. As Kelly and I walked in, the thought hit me.

My parents would freaking kill me if they knew I was here.

Oh well, I thought. They can deal with it. I'm only staying for five minutes, tops. Then we'll be back on our way.

"Whoa," cooed Kelly. "This place is huge."

"I know," Magenta shut the door. Riff walked briskly away. "So what brings you to the castle, hm?"

"Well we were trick or treating, and Kelly dared me to go to the 'haunted house', that's here, to see if there's a witch."

"There's Magenta."

"I'm not a witch."

"I used to think you were when I first got here."

"Typical."

"Kyara, now that you're here, maybe you could help us with something." Magenta requested casually, dusting a few knick-knacks on a shelf.

"If Kelly can help too, I'm stuck with her for the night." I laughed. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Well the master, Frank-N-Furter, you remember him, right?"

"Ah, Frankie," Columbia sighed dreamily.

"Yeah, 'Frankie' is out on business. He left not long after you did."

"When's he coming back?"

"Pretty soon. Maybe in another two weeks. Anyway after you left and he left, another member of the castle left, and we've been looking for him ever since." Magenta explained.

"Who?"

Columbia looked at Magenta knowingly. Then she turned to me.

"Rocky's gone."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey everybody! Chapter 3 is here! I'm going to dedicate this chapter to one **_**Azzi Turner**_** or whatever the hell your name is (since I'm too lazy to look it up) because you have been the greatest contributor to my reviews. Everyone else, you all rock too, keep it up please! And if you're not leaving your thoughts, do so!**_

"What?" I shrieked. I couldn't believe Rocky was gone.

"Who's that, Kyara, your boyfriend?" Kelly laughed mockingly, examining one of the curiosities from the shelves. Magenta huffed.

"He's Frank's creation," She walked briskly over, taking the small pot from Kelly and giving her a quick bop on the head with the handle of her duster and sweeping her way back to where Columbia and I stood with her arm around me, as though she wouldn't ever let anyone else near me or let me go anywhere without her again.

"Creation? Like Frankenstein?"

"Not exactly," I explained. "Frank made Rocky like a sex toy for himself."

"But he ended up being more like a puppy," Magenta rolled her eyes and smiled in spite of herself. "A puppy that followed you everywhere, and loves it when you pay attention to him."

That seemed pretty accurate.

"What's so bad about that? Maybe it's good he's gone." Kelly really wasn't helping her cause.

"Because, dumbass, when the master gets home and finds out he's gone then we'll all be dead." Magenta let out a low growl and glared at Kelly. I take it she didn't really like her.

"Well then you should find him so you won't die,"

Damn, I wanted to punch Kelly. If I didn't, Magenta would. And hers would be harder.

"Kelly," I coughed. "Quit talking."

Magenta ignored her. "Now Rocky's loose somewhere and we don't know where."

"So do you have any idea or could he be halfway to Canada by now?"

"He could very well be _in_ Canada."

Well shit.

"Okay, so I guess we should start looking."

"You'll help us?" gasped Columbia, pulling me into her soft, pajama clad chest for another hug. "Oh boy! I knew you would!"

"Kyara, we can't, we have to go home. Mom, dad, Brad and Janet would kill us."

"I know them!" Columbia jumped. "They're good people!"

"How does she know your parents?" Kelly looked as puzzled as she sounded.

"It's a long story."

"Nevermind, we have to leave."

"We can't though; I have to help them find Rocky."

"Well maybe I should go home and tell Brad and Janet that their kids are off doing stuff they shouldn't be?"

"I'm going to kill that bitch," Magenta started for Kelly.

"Magenta, no!"

Everything happened so fast. Kelly squealing, Magenta lunging, Columbia and I scrambling to hold her back. It all blurred together until finally the three of us stood around a comatose maid passed out on the ground.

And it wasn't Magenta.

Shit, I thought. Shit, I'm going to Hell for this.

"Crap."

"Magenta, why did you knock Kelly out?"

"The bitch was asking for it."

"Would you stop saying that, please?" I requested

"Sorry."

"Now what?"

A silence fell among the castle residents. Columbia seemed to be spacing out like she did often back in August. Magenta looked around, her eyes free of guilt or remorse. And I stood there taking in the scenery as the two words escaped from my lips and the awkwardness took over.

"We should lock her in the closet." Magenta suggested. I was horrified. We were _NOT_ locking my best friend in a closet!

"That's a terrible idea!" I squealed. But my reaction was soon drowned out by Columbia's.

"That's an excellent idea!" She grinned until I shot her a death glare. "I mean that is the worst idea ever, Mags, how could you even suggest a thing like that?"

"We're _not_ putting her in the closet!"

"Well what do you suggest?"

Well…

We could…

I think that maybe…

Uh…

There's the possibility of…

Hm…

"We could at least put her in you guys' room. That way if she wakes up we can knock her out again, bring her home, and tell her she had one of those dreams within a dream that you get when you eat too much candy." I decided.

"You have dizzying logic."

"I have been told, and usually it's not a compliment."

Magenta picked her up under her armpits and Columbia picked up her legs. I followed the parade down the hall to Columbia and Magenta's room, the familiar place that I had spent the night in when I was here back in August. They laid Kelly on the bed. Columbia soon rejoined me, taking my hand in the "I'll never let go, Jack" way and Magenta lounging next to a passed out Kelly.

She was going to kill me and all I love in a cold blooded homicide when she woke up, but it would be worth it. Now I just needed an excuse as to why I'm with the people at the Frankenstein Place.

Whatever, I'll think of something.

"Now that _that's_ taken care of," Magenta huffed, seeming pleased with herself. "We can get on with finding Rocky."

"Well where would he be? Is he somewhere in Denton?"

"I suppose we're going to start looking for him in said town?"

"How hard is it to find a bodybuilder type man wearing nothing but gold bikini bottom in Denton?" Columbia shared the thought in an effervescent and optimistic tone.

"Well on Halloween, and a Saturday night," I thought out loud. "Very."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4! I just thought I'd let you all know that I'm on vacation right now, so I can't promise exactly when I'm going to update. But that's happened before and explains why I'm late on this one. Enjoy reading!**_

"Are you sure he's _nowhere_ in the castle?"

"He's not in the kitchen, he's not in the lab, he's not in the bathroom, and he's not in the freezer." Columbia listed off of the top of her head.

"Why would he be in the freezer?"

"We found him in there once," Magenta sighed. "He almost froze to death, so we checked there first."

"And he still wasn't there!"

"Well this isn't good."

"Did we ever say it was?"

"I suppose you didn't."

There was a pause. Then I spoke up, breaking the short lived silence that had fallen over the three of us.

"Well should we go?"

"Wait! I need to change!"

Magenta and I turned our backs so Columbia could get dressed in her sparkling groupie outfit. When she was finished, the three of us walked out of the room, locking the door so Kelly couldn't get out if she woke up. Magenta led the way down the hall with Columbia dragging me close behind. We walked by Riffraff who was nailing something into the wall.

"Where are you three going and where's that other young lady that came in dressed like my dear Magenta?"

Columbia turned around and took a big breath of air. "Well we're going out to look around Denton for Rocky because he's missing and we have to find him before Frankie gets back or else he might kill us because you know how aggressive he can be and Magenta knocked Kelly out so she's in a mini coma in our room on our bed and Kyara originally came looking for candy but she-"

"That's enough, Columbia, I get it." Riffraff continued to hammer the wall with the big, rusted mallet. The three of us continued on our way out the door and down the path, closing the squealing gates behind my heels.

We found our way to Main Street (without any help from me), among the kids and parents walking around getting their treats. Columbia looked around, astounded.

"Kyara! They're all dressed like you, except with longer skirts!"

"Not to mention they're all at least three years younger than her, maybe even more." Magenta huffed, walking forward. "Now come on, we have to find Rocky."

"If it makes you feel better your costume's a lot more interesting." Columbia whispered to me as we followed Magenta. I shrugged, expecting comments like that.

We walked through the neighborhood, avoiding the slowly moving cars and the waves of children dressed as princesses and superheroes. Finally the houses started looking slightly more familiar. Then I realized where I was, passing a blue house with the lights on, a jack-o-lantern on the porch, and a huge, fake, glittery spider on the door.

The Majors' residence. And they were home. And Ralph and Betty were over.

And they were related to me!

Oh, nevermind, I thought. It shouldn't be a problem. They aren't coming outside unless someone rings the doorbell, so they wouldn't see me. Or Magenta. Or Columbia.

Wait.

There's Magenta.

_WHERE'S COLUMBIA?_

A squeaky voice from the half-lit darkness scared the crap out of me.

"What _is_ this thing?"

I looked over to find the source of the voice standing on the porch taking particular interest in an orange globe with a face carved in it. Darn it!

"Columbia, put that down and get over here."

"Why? It's so cool!"

I walked over to the porch and took the pumpkin from her, placing it back on the step. "Just leave it alone!"

"What gives you the authority to tell me what to do? This isn't your house!"

"Yes, it is, now we have to _leave_ before my parents come out!"

"Your parents are home?" Columbia jumped to her feet. "I want to say hi!"

"Wait, Columbia, don't!"

It was too late. Her finger already found its way to the orange-lit doorbell button. _Ding-dong_.

The bushes rustled. The door unlocked and opened and a small woman with short, sandy colored hair holding a bowl of assorted chocolates appeared. Her pleasant mood was shown on her face, but was soon replaced with a look of confusion.

"Kyara? What are you doing home? Where's Kelly? Where's Dustin?" Mom asked me frantically.

"Chill, Mom. Everything's fine. I got hungry. Kelly and Dustin are hanging out and trick or treating on the other side of the neighborhood while I came here and got some substantial food instead of eating all my candy." I lied surprisingly well, making it up as I went along.

"I told you to eat dinner! At least you didn't just eat candy. Come inside." Mom stepped aside and let me in, shutting the door behind me. "What do you want?"

"I don't know, maybe just a banana or something." I walked in and grabbed one out of the fruit bowl. "Thanks Mom. Hi Dad. Ralph, Betty." I quickly sped out before anyone could ask why I was there, shutting the door and the screen behind me. A low moan from the bushes caught my attention.

I jumped off the porch and helped an injured entertainer out of our shrubs.

"Sorry I had to do that; if mom saw you with me I would have been shot."

"And so you pushed me over the side of the railing?" Columbia squealed at me, grabbing her top hat from where it landed on the bush.

"Yeah, sorry. Now let's go, we have to go find Magenta."

"Is that a banana?" Columbia pointed to the yellow crescent I held in my hand.

"Um… Yeah I guess it is." I went to throw it into the woods next to our house when Columbia caught me by my collar.

"Wait! I want it!"

"Okay," She took the banana and it was gone faster than you could blink. By the way she ate you'd think she'd be the size of a blimp.

"Columbia, where's Magenta?" I realized, looking around.

The two of us took off down the street as fast as we could run without falling over to go find the domestic that had left us behind without a care.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Yay, an update! I'm back from vacation so hopefully I'll be better with the new chapters now that I can put some actual thought and spend some time on them. Enjoy Chapter 5~**_

Finally we caught up to her, panting and huffing. Magenta had just kept on walking, focused on finding the escaped creature, not paying any mind to the missing groupie and daughter.

"Where the hell have you two been?" she questioned, without a glance back at us. Columbia and I exchanged glances.

"We got tired so we had to stop and take a rest. We thought you wouldn't mind," I lied. I was getting good at this. "Sorry if we alarmed you."

"You didn't alarm me, just give me more notice. I almost got mauled by a kid that thought I was their mother."

"Who's mom would dress like _that_?" Columbia laughed.

I decided to quickly change the subject. "So do you have any idea where Rocky might be?"

"Nothing's changed since you asked me back at the castle." I let it drop after that. We continued silently on in the dimly lit streets. The kids and parents had thinned out on this side of town; either that or it was later than I thought. We had to hurry up and find the missing creation soon or else Riffraff, Magenta, and Columbia aren't the only ones that are going to get killed.

Suddenly a high-pitched voice broke out into song. "_Ninety-nine bottles of pop on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of pop…_"

"Columbia," a thick voice growled out a warning, stopping the song immediately. "Don't ever do that again."  
"Sorry," Columbia sighed, hanging her head. Suddenly, she perked up, looking off next to a house, gasping.

"What is it?" I inquired, truthfully a bit startled by her sudden change in attitude.

"Over there! I saw him!"

"Saw who?"

"_Rocky!_"

Magenta and I looked at each other, interested. "Where did he go?" she spoke up first.

"Over there!" Columbia bolted down between two houses, both shaded by the other in the pitch black. I couldn't see anything there, I wondered how Columbia could as I took a step closer.

"Where?" I called. "I don't see anything."

"No, no, he's here!" she was standing there looking around. As she hung her head and started to trudge back to us with a stunning lack of a Rocky, her face brightened with the thought of a new idea. "Maybe he's in the back!" She turned around and hit a dark brown wooden fence with so much force it made a sound that even caused Magenta to glance around with slight concern.

Without a sound Columbia returned to us, angrily replacing her top hat on her head.

"Did you find Rocky?" I teased, laughing slightly.

"Did you?" she snapped, obviously unable to find a better comeback.

"Not yet."

"Well me either!"

"Shut up, you two." Magenta growled, stopping our conversation immediately. Something told me Magenta wasn't in the best of moods tonight. She definitely was better this summer.

I think. I have the memory of a goldfish.

I blame my dad.

We kept walking on in silence, even Columbia not saying anything. After what seemed like forever (although in reality it was about six minutes or so), we hit a dead end with what seemed like nothing but woods.

"We're at the end of the road? No!" Columbia squealed. "Now how will we find Rocky?"

"Calm down, moron, we'll just turn around and look down another road."

"No," I interjected. "Look here." I crossed over to the woods and looked at a large rock that had been pushed aside revealing a pathway into the woods. It was familiar, well known. I had been here plenty of times before. But something was different now.

"What's that?" Columbia trotted over and looked at the path with me.

"Kelly, a boy from our neighborhood and I have walked down this road so many times before. It's been established as our woods."

"That sounds idiotic."

"No, Magenta she might be on to something!" Columbia looked at me with interest. "Continue?"

"Well when we were younger, Jack's dad and Kelly's dad built us a treehouse out there. We go there when we're bored or whatever. Sometimes we sleep out there."

"Is this story going anywhere?" Magenta asked.

"Hang on, I'm getting to it. So when we got here, the rock was pushed aside. That means someone's in our woods on our paths. Granted it could be anybody but there's a possibility it might be Rocky."

"Really? Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Columbia sped into the woods leaving Magenta and I after her.

The woods were even creepier at night. During the day you don't notice how the trees form a canopy over you. The moon's not shining during the day, therefore you don't know how creepy it is at night when the tree canopy filters the night glow casting an eerie shadow over everyone there. And it doesn't help Columbia is made up of 90% sequins.

Yes sir, the woods are much more different at night.

We reached a familiar fork in the paths, one to the left and one in a sharp angle to the right. Columbia stopped and looked at me.

"Which way do we go?"

"Well we could go two ways," I explained, examining the two paths. "The path to the left leads to the tree house, the path to the right leads to a small pond."

"What's at the pond?"

"Not much, really," I said. "There's a really old dock, some fish, I think a frog lives there, and a turtle family, and some ducks-"

"Not that I don't care about cute wildlife," Magenta interrupted. "But what is down there that could help us?"

"Well the dock has a pretty good view of the entire pond. In other words, if Rocky's at any part of the pond, then we'll be able to see him."

"And the treehouse?"

"Well the treehouse itself doesn't have anything particularly interesting," I thought out loud, finding out just after I said it I was not confident in that statement. "But there are some more paths around it we could look at."

"Well we aren't going to find him just standing here." Magenta started down a path with a stride in her step, Columbia and I putting along right after her.

_** Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we've entered the audience participation portion of our show! Please tell me which path you think that the girls should go down first!**_

_**The Left Path- To the Treehouse**_

_**Or**_

_**The Right Path- To the Pond**_

_**Also, feedback is still loved~**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**WHAT IS THIS? AN UPDATE? HOLY CRAP I DON'T EVEN…**_

_** Just kidding. Sort of. I haven't updated for an extremely long time because of dumb school work and stuff with family and all that jazz. So I have reached a decision… With votes from people. Also I have a new idea that somewhat works in this category so be expecting a new, sort of twisted story coming up! Please enjoy Chapter Six!**_

Magenta expertly skirted down the path, dodging roots, branches, and overgrowth on the beaten road. Columbia and I fumbled after, hitting everything that Magenta had enough skill to get around. The incline deepened and soon we were heading down a slight hill. I knew what was coming after this.

We walked on, once again silent, continuing down the hill as it got steeper and steeper. Our pace quickened, Columbia one step away from taking everything down in her path, and me not far behind. Magenta still led. She better slow down, I found myself thinking. Otherwise she might hit the-

_SPLASH_.

Uh-oh.

Columbia and I skidded to a stop, gazing horrified into the glassy water at our friend who had just plunged into the chilly, dark water. Magenta had splashed in and was now soaked from her hair to her fishnets. Slowly she rose from the water.

"Welcome to the pond?" I offered, watching the steamed Magenta practically boil the water around her feet.

"Thanks, kid." She grumbled after a period of contemplating what would be the best thing to say in this situation. Shaking the water off her dress and body, she walked back onto land.

"I was going to tell you to slow down because the shore cuts off right away but you're really hard to keep up with." I insisted. She didn't look convinced so I just left it at that.

"ANYWAY," squealed Columbia, breaking the short-lived silence that had fallen like an anvil. "I don't see Rocky here."

"That's because you haven't gotten on the dock yet. If Rocky's anywhere around the pond, we'll be able to see him off it."

"Oh! Then where's the dock?"

"That's the part I forgot to mention," I sighed. "The dock got detached in a rough storm we had back in Denton a few years ago. So it's not exactly the closest to the shore."

"Well where is it? I wouldn't mind getting a bit wet. Magenta's already there." Columbia giggled, soon stopping and jumping behind me in fear as Magenta turned an icy glare in her direction.

I looked out at the pond. The full moon reflected silver on the dark, glassy water. In the center of the large pool, a wooden block with a long ladder floated back and forth.

"I'm not getting back in that water."

"Well someone's coming with me."

"Kyara, not to burst your bubble or anything, but you're not exactly wearing the best swimwear," Magenta pointed out, looking disapprovingly at the nurse outfit that checked out well above my knee. I looked down at it too, realizing everything she said was completely true. "Also, for the last time, I'm not getting back in that water."

I turned and grinned at Columbia. She looked at me and then, after a considerable amount of time, finally got what I was trying to imply. To my sure surprise, she looked significantly excited. "We get to go swimming?"

I looked around, just to check that the real Columbia wasn't hiding in a bush or something, but then I turned my line of vision back to her and simply said, "Yes."

She squealed with delight and took off her sequin jacket, all the while babbling endlessly to Magenta and I. She threw it at Magenta who immediately dropped it on the sandy soil in a flurry of gold sparkles. Columbia sat down and took off her shoes and fishnets and top hat and was soon ready to go. I took off my heels and fishnets as well, and my nurse hat.

"Ready to go?" I asked, dipping my foot to test the water. The pond wasn't too cold; it could've been much worse. Columbia, without an answer, bounded into the water, diving into the shallow part headfirst.

I jumped in after her, smiling, then diving into the water. It felt strange with my revealing pleather dress, the water around it skidding right off it. I finally caught up to Columbia, who had boundless energy in every direction. She wasn't letting her head go beneath the water.

"Columbia, you'll swim faster if you go underwater." I told her, watching her doggy paddle toward the middle of the lake.

"If I do then my makeup and hair will get messed up! Like yours!"

Shit. I'm wearing makeup.

"Oh, well no one's going to see you…" I explained, mostly for self-comfort.

"Yeah! You will and Magenta will and Riff will and your friend will and Rocky will eventually when we find him and then-"

"Alright, fine I get it." I rolled my eyes and continued to swim toward the dock.

It's a good thing my dad knew how to swim and taught me. My mom wouldn't get anywhere near any body of water. I never knew why. It bothered me, though; all those years when I've asked for a pool in our yard mom's said no.

Dad has of course, agreed because if he ever opposed mom he'd be sleeping in Scamp's crate (that's our dog).

But I didn't mind. We had the pond, and that was good enough for me.

Faster than I expected, we had arrived at the dock. I cautiously climbed up the ladder that had at least 9 different types of sea life living on it, onto the broken down deck. The deck was in the shape of a V, extremely broken down and hard to stand on with more than one person.

Columbia joined me, standing on the near side of the wooden frame while I stood on the far side, to keep it balanced. She looked around.

"I don't see him."

"You need to look more carefully. The pond is big."

"Oh I see Magenta! Hi Magenta!"

Magenta didn't look up; she probably didn't hear her.

"I said," Columbia took a deep breath. "HI MAGENTA!"

Magenta finally looked up and gave a halfhearted wave to us.

Columbia turned back to me, satisfied. "Now where's Rocky?"

"If he's near the pond we'll see him." I turned around and squinted to see whatever I could in the darkness. I will be honest and say that I have terrible eyesight.

Thanks, Dad.

In any case, I left my glasses at home and could see Columbia, the dock, the ladder, and not much else. So I was relying on Columbia for her judgment.

Oh holy crap, why didn't I take Magenta?


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hey everyone, sorry I'm not updating, like at all. So much stuff going on… ANYWAY here's chapter 7!**_

"Do you see anything?" I asked halfheartedly.

Columbia did a slow turn, looking around the pond's shore. Obviously she didn't see anything, because she just kept turning and turning and turning.

"Columbia. Do you see anything?" I repeated.

"What? Oh, no, I don't."

"Really?" I had expected her to say something more along the lines of "There he is!" and point to a large rock or "I see him!" and point to a half-dead tree. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm not a preschooler, you know."

You could have fooled me.

"Oh, sorry. Well if you don't see him we should go back," I started off toward the ladder.

"Wait!" I turned. "How deep is the water?"

"How deep?" I hadn't been asked this before. "Maybe… Eleven feet? Maybe deeper?" I had never thought about it. All I know is that past the drop off I couldn't see, touch, or feel anything but water.

"Oh. Okay." She muttered. I turned to go down the ladder and suddenly felt a rough shove from behind, plunging me into the water.

I came up with a sharp breath and a sharper look to Columbia who was giggling like a hyena. Without a word, I got back up on the ladder, launched myself onto the deck, and pushed her in too.

"There. Now we're even." I smiled triumphantly while she poked her head out of the water. "By the way, I'd fix your makeup. It's starting to run. _Last one to shore is a rotten egg!_" I dove off the other side of the dock and swam like hell toward the forest we'd come from. Columbia was a faster swimmer than I expected and she soon caught up to me.

We reached shore in a flailing, splashing mess.

"I take it neither of you buffoons found Rocky?" Magenta raised her voice to cease the splashing and wrestling.

"We didn't." I smiled. "Maybe he's at the treehouse."

"For your sake you better hope he is. Now get up, the two of you."

Columbia and I stood up into the brisk air, now realizing what a cold night it really was. I shook my hair out and wiped whatever makeup I still had left on my face off. I put my shoes back on and threw my fishnets into the woods, knowing that I'd never use them again anyway.

Placing my hat back on, I was ready to go. After waiting for Columbia to finish prepping herself, we set back up the hill, this time, Magenta having me lead to avoid any repeats. We found our way back to the crossing and down the other path, heading up another gentle incline.

It wasn't long before the silence that showed too often was penetrated by Columbia.

"Are we almost there? My feet are _tired_."

"Yeah we are," I assured her. "Just hang in there."

We continued on, soon reaching a clearing with a large tree in the center. Blended nicely with it was a wooden structure perched on the thick, twisting branches. A dirty, damp rope ladder hung from the underside of the frame, swaying slightly. I looked up at it, not seeing any particular movement from it.

That's when I noticed the trap door was open.

"Guys! The trap is open!" I called to the two of them who had fallen slightly behind.

"What trap?" I heard Magenta's voice call back, as the woman herself slowly rose up the hill.

"It's the door to the treehouse." I explained, pointing it out to her. "I don't think I left it open last time I left.

"Well what does that mean?"

"Either the wind blew it open or someone's in there."

"_Kyara, Magenta! I'm stuck!_"

Magenta and I looked over the hill to see Columbia with her jacket (still on her body, mind you) tangle in some tree branch that overlapped the path.

How she manages these sorts of things I do not know.

I slid back down the hill, Magenta dragging her feet behind me.

"Columbia, you have to take off your coat."

"Why? I'm cold."

"Just do it, please." I smiled reassuringly.

"Alright." She did so, shivering as she stepped away from the glittering clothes. "Now what? I need my coat back!"

I sighed and set to work on peeling the coat from the twisted fingers of the tree's arm. All the while, Columbia's background squeals set for an interesting mood.

In other words it felt like I was defusing a bomb.

"Don't rip it! If one sequin comes off they all do! You're tearing it! You're going to wreck it, Kyara!"

Eventually I got the coat off with little to no damage. Columbia was overjoyed and put the jacket back on, thanking me and skipping up the hill to the treehouse. I rolled my eyes, as did Magenta, and we followed her on up, trudging with newfound weariness.

Once we got up there, I took off my heels and made my way to the ropes. "Come on guys, it's up here."

"Do you think Rocky's up there?"

"Maybe." I started up the trembling rope ladder. With every rung I ascended, I squeezed my hands more and held on for dear life so I wouldn't fall off. I was hugging the rope to my chest for dear life by the time my head was at the open hole in the floor (or roof from my perspective).

"Well?" Columbia called from somewhere below me. "Do you see him?"

"Currently no," I hissed. "Mostly because I'm trying not to fall off and break my arm or leg or other appendage!"

There was a pause as I struggled up another rung. Then she spoke again. "So is he ther or not?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes as I finally hauled myself up into the treehouse.

_**HEY WHOA CLIFFHANGER**_


End file.
